1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to data transfer and, more particularly, to systems and methods for interfacing to multiple streams of variable speeds.
2. Description of Related Art
Routers receive data on physical media, such as optical fiber, analyze the data to determine its destination, and output the data on physical media in accordance with the destination. Routers were initially designed using a general purpose processor executing large software programs. As line rates and traffic volume increased, however, general purpose processors could not scale to meet the new demands. For example, as new functions, such as accounting and policing functionality, were added to the software, these routers suffered performance degradation. In some instances, the routers failed to handle traffic at line rate when the new functionality was turned on.
To meet the new demands, purpose-built routers were designed. Purpose-built routers are designed and built with components optimized for routing. They not only handled higher line rates and higher network traffic volume, but they also added functionality without compromising line rate performance.
A conventional purpose-built router may include a number of input and output ports from which it receives and transmits streams of information packets. A switching fabric may be implemented in the router to carry the packets between the ports. In a high-performance purpose-built router, the switching fabric may transmit a large amount of information between a number of internal components.
The conventional routers are typically configured based on the speeds of the packet streams they receive. If the speed of one of the streams changes, the routers typically must be reconfigured. Reconfiguring a router is generally a complicated and time-consuming process. Also, reconfiguring in response to a change in speed of a single stream may adversely affect other streams processed by the router.
As a result, there is a need in the art for a router that can handle streams of varying speeds without requiring major reconfiguration.